Typewriting machine



P. H. BURDICK.

TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

APPLIEATION FILED SEPT. 3. 1920.

1,430,284. Patented Sept. 26, 1922..

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

P. H. BUR'DICK.

TYPEWRIIING MACHINE. APPLICATION man SEPT. 3. 1920.

Patented Sept; 26,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i atented Sept. 25, 1%22.

ZAUL H. BURDICK, @E GENEVA, XLLINOIS.

TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

Application filed fieptcmber 3, 1920. serial Trio. 407,928.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, PAUL H. BURDICK, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Geneva, county of Kane, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTypewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to typewriting machines, and the objectof the in vention may be stated in broad terms to be the provision of anew and improved machine of this class, operating on new principles andincluding features tending to greater speed in operation and lessfatigue and strain on the part of the operator.

More specifically, I provide a typewriting machine having keys which arenot individual to the several characters which "are re quired to bewritten, but which on the contrary are considerably less in number thansuch characters, and correspond rather to the fingers of the operator innumber and position; together with means, preferably electrical incharacter, whereby the operation of the keys singly or in combinationwill serve to separately control the type bars of the machine. Since thefingers of the operator do not change their position over the keys andsince no powerful striking movements are required to operate them, theprocess of writing with my improved machine is far less fatiguing thanwith the machines in common use. I provide, furthermore, a typewritingmachine having duplicate sets of keys, one set for each hand of theoperator, and each set capable of writing all the letters or charactersin use. This makes it possible for the operator to always use her twohands alternately while writing, thus greatly increasing the speed ofoperation.

The principles of the invention as explained above may be incorporatedin an entirely new typewri'ting machine having the usual writingmechanism but omitting the standard keyboard, my improved keyboard beingsubstituted therefor; or the new keyboard and associated mechanism maybe constructed as a separate unit adapted to function in connection withany standard make of typewriter. The latter form is the preferred one,and is the embodiment of the invention which will be describedhereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. I

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a top view of a standardtypewriting machine mounted on the control unit, the view showing'clearly the arrangement of the new ke board. I i

1g. is a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and shows thegeneral shape and construction of the-control unit. A portion of theside of the unit is cut away at the rear in order to show thearrangement of the operating magnets.

Fig. 3 is a detailed drawing showing the I preferred method ofconstructing the operat- 1ng magnets, and the method of attachin thearmatures to the type bars. D

F 1g. 4 is a detail drawing of one of the keys showing the method ofmounting the contact springs controlled thereby.

1 1g. '5 1s a circuit diagram showing the manner in which the operatingmagnets are controlled by the keys through the medium of relays.

Inasmuch as the typewriting'machine itself 1s old and well known, nodetailed eitplanation of the operation thereof will be g1ven and noattempt has been made to show all the mechanical details in thedrawings. The line spacer, marginal stops, and all the other usualattachments except the word space bar and the shift are manuallyoperated in the usual manner. The explanation will, therefore, beconfined to the control unit and its operation inactuating the type barmagnets, whereby the typewriting machine is operated. Referring first toFigs. 1 and 2, all the apparatus with the exception of the operatingmagnet armatures is mounted in a single unitary structure whichcomprises a box or casing 10, made of wood or other suitable materialandadapted to form a base for the typewriting machine with which theapparatus is tobe used. At the rear and underneath the typewriter thehollow base or casing contains the operating magnets and the controllingrelays, while the forward portion forms a key shelf upon which the keysare mounted. The keys are twelve in number. Keys 1 to 6 are operated bythe right hand of the operator, keys 3 to 6 being finger keys, whilekeys 1 and 2 are actuated by the thumb. The corresponding keys for theleft hand are indicated by reference numerals l to 6 inclusive. As shownin the drawing the keys resemble piano keys and are of about the samesize. Each key controls a set of contact springs by which the necessaryelectrical connections are made.

The arrangement of these springs and the construction of one of theykeys may be best explained by referring to Fig. 4-, which is a sectionthrough the key shelf between keys 4 and 5.' The key 4: may beconstructed of wood and-is supported on the pivot 13. The upper surfaceis formed of an ivory or celluloid plate 12. The: spring 14 serves torestore the key after being depressed, and the upward movement islimited by the felt strip 16. A similar strip of felt l5 limits thedownward movement. The spring combination comprises the stationarysprings 20 and 21 and the movable springs 22, 23, and 2- The formersprings are attached by means of a machine screw and insulating washersto the flat steel strip 25 which extends the entire width of the baseand has both ends bent down to form legs which are suitably attached tothe base. .This strip supports all the stationary springs which areassociated with the finger keys. A similar strip '(not shown) isproperly positioned beneath the thumb keys and supports the stationarysprings which are therewith associated. The movable springs 22, 23, and24 are secured to the under surface of the key a by means of anothermachine screw and are also properly spaced and insulated from each otherby washers or fibre insulators. The springs are adjusted so that springs21 and 24 are normally in engagement as shown. When the key is depressedat the first downward movement these two springs separate, and justbefore the downward movement is completedsprings 22 and 23simultaneously engage springs 20 and 21,

respectively.

The operating magnets are, of course,

. equal in number to the number of type bars,

with extra magnets for operating the word space bar, the shift, and theshift release. The location and arrangement of these magnets is shownclearly in Figs. 1 and 2. The magnets are arranged in three rows, therear most row being located about two and one half inches forward of thepoint at which the type bars are pivoted. By arranging the magnets inthree rows, fairly large and powerful magnets may be used, notwithstanding the close spacing of the type bars, and a quick and positiveoperation is insured. Each row of magnets is mounted on a flat strip ofbrass, one of these strips being indicated by the reference character30. Each brass strip extends the entire width of the base and the endsare bent down to form legs by means of which the strip is supported.

The construction of the magnets and armatures can best be explained withreference to Fig. 3. The magnet there shown comprises a soft iron core35 provided at opposite ends with fibre discs 36 which enclosethewinding space. In order to provide a return path for the magnetic flux,the entire magnet is enclosed in a soft iron shell 34. The top of theshell is cut away at the sides for a short distance as shown, leavingtwo projecting members 37 and 38, whose extremities are even with thetop of the magnet core. The armature 33 is of about the same width asthe diameter of the core and is attached to the type bar by means of-ametal strip 321 The armature is cut out. or recessed on the under sideand the strip 32 passes entirely around it, the two sides of the bracketthus formed being clamped together by means of rivet 39. The two halvesof the bracket pass on opposite sides of the type bar and are pivotallyattached there to by means of machine screw 4.0.

Having described the mechanical. construction of my improvedtypewriterfor typewriter control mechanism, as it is perhaps moreproperly called. I will now describe the means by which the operation ofthe keys, singly and in combination, effects the separate actuation ofthe operating magnets. This means, as is understood, is preferablyelectrical in character and consists of relays together with suitablecircuits for accomplishing the desired object.

Referring to Fig. 5, at the upper right hand corner of the sheet, thesix keys for the right hand of the operator are indicated by referencecharacters 1 to (3, inclusive. The keys for the left hand, indicated byreference characters 1 to 6, inclusive, are shown at the left. At thelower left hand portion of the sheet are shown the operating magnets.These magnets are forty-five in number, providing for as many separatecharacters as are used on standard type writing machines, and arearranged in three groups. Relays 50 to 57, inclusive, are operated bythe finger keys and control the selection within groups, while relays 60and 61 are operated by the thumb keys and control the group selection.Relays 58 and 59 are com mon to the keys of the left and right hands,respectively, and their function is to prevent interference between thetwo sets of keys. Relay (i2 is a double wound relay which is inserted inthe main battery supply lead extending to the operating magnets for thepurpose of limiting the operating time of the magnets.

As stated hereinbefore, all of the fortyfive operating magnets may beseparately controlled by the six keys of either hand used separately andin combination, Various schemes may be employed to accomplish this, butthe plan adopted is to use the four finger keys to simultaneously selectoperating magnets in three diiferent groups, while the thumb keys areused to control the selection of groups. liy using four keys singly andin combination, fifteen different combinations are possible. Thus eachroup contains fifteen opera-ting magnets. A l the "magnets ofthe firstgroup are normally connectedto the battery and thus are operable bymeans of the finger keys alone. thumb key is adapted by means of a relayto transfer the battery connections to a different group of magnets,which provides for three groups of magnets or forty-five in all.

In assigning the different key combinations to the diiferent letters andcharacters Letter or Key comcharacter. bination. To write E e ..depresskey 3 Towrite'lt.... .....depresskey 4 Towrite 0o .....depresskey 5 Towrite A a ..depress key 6 To write N n .depress keys 3 and 4 To write Ii .depress keys 4 and 5 To write R r .depress keys 5 and 6 To write 8 s.depress keys 3 and 5 To write H 11 .depress keys 4 and 6 To write D d.depress keys 3 and 6 To write L1 .depress keys 3, 4, and 5 To write U udepress keys 4, 5, and 6 To write 0 c depress keys 3, 4 and 6 To write Mm depress keys 3, 0, and 6 To write P p depress keys 3, 4, 5, and 6 Towrite F .depress keys 2 and 3 To write Y y .depress keys 2 and 4 Towrite W w .depress keys 2 and 5 To write G g .depress keys 2 and 6 Towrite B ..depress keys 2, 3, and 4 To write V v .depress keys 2, 4, and5 To write K k... .depress keys 2, 5, and 6 To write X x .depress keys2, 4, and 6 To write Z a .depress keys 2, 3, and 6 To write Q, q.depress keys 2, 3, 5, and 6 To write .depress keys 2, 3,-4, and 5 Towrite .depress keys 2, 4, 5, and 6 To write z. .depress keys 2, 3, 4,and 6 To write 2 .depress keys 1 and 3 To write 3 it .depress keys 1 and4 To write 4 8 .depl'ess keys 2 and 5 .depress keys 1 and 6 To write 5%To write 6 .depress keys 1, 3, and 4 To write 7 dz. .depress keys 1, 4,and 5 To write 8 ..depress keys 1, 5, and 6 To write 9 .depress keys 1,3, and 5 To write 1 .depress keys 1, 4, and 6 To operate word space bardepress keys 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 To operate shift ,.depress keys 1, 3, an 6To operate shift release. .depress keys 1, 4, 5,,and 6 the tabulator,and the line spacer, for excontact,

Each

contact, winding of common relay 59, conductor 81, contact spring 74 andits resting contact, contact spring 75 and its resting contact spring 76and its working contact spring-21 and -itsresting contact spring 78audits. resting contact, contact spring 79 and its resting contact,conductor 83, lower make contact of key 3, conductor 84, and the windingof relay 50 to battery. Upon the closure of the above circuit relays 59and 50 are energized in series and the former relay disconnects ground G-from relay 58 in order to prevent interference in case one or ,morekeys should be accidentally depressed with the left hand before key 3 isreleased. When relay 50 energizes and attracts its armature 85 a circuitis completed as follows: Ground at G, armature 85 and its workingcontact, armature 89 and its resting contact, armature 90 and itsresting contact, armature 91 and 'itsresting contact, conductor 101,winding of magnet 65, resting contact of armature 66 and-the saidarmature, resting contact of armature 67 and the said armacontact,contact,

ture, conductor 68, left hand winding of relay 62, and resting contactof armature 105 and the said armature'to battery. The left hand windingof relay 62 is of low resistance and the said relay and magnet areenergized in series Magnet 65 is located be-- volt operating battery isused, the resistance.

of the operating magnets such as magnet 65 may be about 30 ohms. Theresistance of the left hand winding of relay 62 is about 1 ohm and itsright hand winding has a resistance of about 500 ohms. The relay isprovided with a slug of copper on one end of the core to render itsomewhat slow to pull up its armature. Now when the c1rcuit of magnet 65is closed as just described, the magnet is instantly energized in serieswith the one ohm winding of relay 62. An instant later, and just as themagnet has completely attracted its armature, relay 62 operates itsarmature 105, thereby removing the short circuit from its 500 ohmwinding and connecting this winding in the circuit also. This haspractically the same effect on magnet 65 as the complete opening of thecircuit would have, as the current flow is reduced to a small fractionof its initial. value, and the magnet accordingly retracts its armature.however, and retains its high resistance winding in the circuit untilthe key is released and the circuit is broken at the reire lay 50. Byproperly adjusting relay 62, short powerful current impulses may begiven the magnets of just the rightlength to give the effect of strikingthe keys by a rapid and experienced typist.

The letter E is written without using either of the thumb keys, and thewriting of several other letters will now be explained in order to showthe function of these keys clearly. Suppose the letter Z is to bewritten. According tn the table the combination for this letter requireskeys 2, 3, and 6 to be depressed. Key 2 is the second thumb key for theright hand, while keys 3 and 6 are the first and fourth finger keys. Thekeys are all depressed simultaneously, and with all the keys in theirdepressed position a circuit is closed for relay 61 as follows: Groundat G armature 80 and its resting contact, winding of relay 59, conductor81, contact spring 74 and its resting contact, contact spring 7 5 andits working contact, contact spring 76 and its working contact, contactspring 21 and its resting contact, contact spring 7 8 and its restingcontact, contact spring 79 and its working contact, conductor 83, lowermake contact of key 2, conductor 69, and the winding of relay 61 tobattery. Relay 61 is energized and by attracting its several armaturesdisconnects the operating battery from all the magnets of the firstgroup and connects said battery to all the magnets of the second group.At the same time that the above circuit is completed for relay 61,circuits are completed for relays 50, 54, .55, 56, and 57 by the keys 3and '6. The circuit of relay 50 has already been tracedfiand the circuitof the other four relays, which are all ener gized in parallel, is of asimilar character. The five last mentioned relays being in operatedposition, a circuit is completed for magnet 64 as follows: Ground at Garmature 85 and its working contact, armature 89 and its restingcontact, armature 90 and its resting contact, armature 91 and itsworking contact, conductor 102, winding of magnet 64, working. contactof armature and the said armature, resting contact of armature 71 andthe said armature, conductor 68, left hand winding of relay '62, and theresting contact of armature 105 and the said armature to battery. Theabove circuit is closed by relays 50, 54, and 61, oper.

ating simultaneously, and as a result magnet.

64:, which is positioned beneath the type bar corresponding tothe letterZ, is operated momentarily to strike the required letter.

The process of writing the figure 5 will now be described briefly inorder to explain the function of the first thumb key. Consulting thetable, it will be found that the proper combination for this characteris keys 1 and 6. These two keys are depressed simultaneously and key 1closes a circuit for relay 60, while key 6 closes a circuit for relays54: to 57, inclusive. Tn view of the detailed circuit descriptionsalready given, these circuits may be traced without dificulty. Relays 54and 60 being now in operated position, the following circuit iscompleted formagnet 63: Ground at G armature 85 and its resting contact,armature 86 and. its resting contact, armature 87 and its restingcontact, armature 88 .and its working contact, conductor 103, winding ofmagnet 63, resting contactof arma ture 72 and the said armature, workingcontact of armature 73 and the said armature, conductor 68, left handwinding of relay 62, and the resting contact of armature 105 and thesaid armature to battery. By the closure of the above circuit magnet 63is operated momentarily to strike the figure 5.

In view of the foregoing it is thought that the manner of operating theremaining magnets to write the other letters. and characters will beunderstood readily Without further explanations. It is understood, ofcourse, that the battery connections of all magnets are controlled byrelays 60 and 61 in the same manner that the connections of the firstnine magnets; ;at the left are controlled. That is, thse two relays arein practice provided with sullicient contact springs to control thebattery connections of all the .magnets. Since the connections are allthe same, however, it is considered unnecessary to show the completewiring of more than nine, as this number is sufficient to illustrate theselective principle employed. If desired, and this is perhaps thepreferable procedure, the contact springs associated with each group ofmagnets may be divided among several relays and the relays of each groupcan be connected in series or in parallel. has been followed with thecontact springs controlled by keys 5 and 6 through the medium of relays52 to 57,.inclusive.

As stated hereinbefore all the letters and characters can be made witheitherv hand. Ke s 1 to 6', inclusive, are connected in mu tiple withkeys 1 to 6, inclusive, and operate the same relays; it is thereforeimmaterial whether the right or left hand be used ,in striking anyparticular letter. This arrangement is of great utility as it permitsthe operatorvto always use her two hands alternately. The first letterin a word may be written with the right hand, the next letter with theleft, the next with the right, and so on. Writing thus becomes automaticand maximum speed is attained. Interference between the right and lefthands is prevented by the'series relays 58 and 59, each of whichinterrupts the ground connection to the keys associated with the other.llf a right hand key is depressed relay 59 is energized and disconnectsground This is the plan that from the lefthand keys, while the depres--sion of any left hand key will energize relay 58 to disconnect groundfrom all the right hand keys. Due to this provision if the operatorwhile writing. rapidly should acciwith one hand -bewith conductor 83..This circuit arrangeprovided to guard against slight' ment isinaccuracies in depressing keys simultaneously. To explain this, supposethat direct round is supplied to all the keys and that are letter N isto be Written, requiring keys 3 and 4: to be depressed simultaneously.Now if key 3 is depressed slightly" before key 4, as soon as the formerkey'closes its make contact, relay will be energized and the machine wll start to write the letter E, which willbe changed to the letter N assoon as key. 4 closes its make contact and energizes relay 51. It willbe readily seen that confusion would often result wit such a circuitarrangement unless the operator were extremely careful to depress thekeysexactly together. By the provision of the loop circuit such extremeaccuracy is not required. It is only necessarythat the operatorshallstart all keys which are to be depressed before an one of them isentirely operated. Wlien the key WlllQll' is started, first leaves itsnormal position it breaks the loop circuit and this circuit is held openby one key or the other until the last key is entirely depressed and allmake contacts l are closed. Since the keys have a relatively longstroke, the operating requirements pointed out above are easily met witha little practice and. accuratewriting is insured. i v

Having descrilded my invention, what I consider tobe, new and desire tohave protected by Letters'Patent will be pointed out in the a pendedclaims.

What% claim is:

1. In a typewriting machine, a plurallty of writing devices, magnets foroperating said devices, keys for controlling the 01rcuits of saidmagnets, and a common conductor included in all of said circuits, anautomatic device connected in series with said conductor and effectiveto limit the time during which any magnet can remain operated.

2. In a typewriting machine, a plurality of writing devices, magnets foroperating said devices, keys and associated means for closing thecircuits ofsaid magnets to operatively energize the same, and anautomatic device comprising a relay which is energized in series wlthany energized magnet to deenergize such magnet after a definite timeinterval.

3. In a t-ypewriting machine, a plurality of writing devices, a set ofkeys, means for operating said devices separately by depress ingdifferent combinations of keys, and means active whenever a plurality ofkeys constituting a combination are simultaneously in motion forpreventing faulty operation due to failure of such keys to reach theirfinal depressed positions simultaneously.

4. In a typewriting machine, a plurality of sepa-ratewriting devices,magnets for operating said devices, relays for controlling the circuitsof said magnets, keys operable in difierent combinations to energizesaid relays, a conductor common to all the relay circuits .and extendingthrough all said keys in series, and contact springs controlling theseries connections and so adjusted that the said conductor is open onlyWhile any key is passing from normal to fully operated position.

5. In a typewriting machine, a plurality of separate writing devices,magnets for operating said devices, relays forcontrolling the circuitsofsaid, magnets, keys operable in different combinations to energize saidrelays, a conductor common to all the relay circuits and extendingthrough all said keys in series, a pair of contact springs at each keyincluded in said conductor when said keys are normal, and an additionalcontact spring at each key for closing said conductor when the keys aredepressed.

6. In a typewriting machine including writing devices, magnets foroperating said device's, right and left hand key'sets for controllingthe circuits of said magnets, a com j mon conductor for connecting theoperating battery with all the keys of the right hand key set, a similarconductor associated with the left hand key set, means responsive tocurrent flowin the said first conductor'for opening the said secondconductor, and means responsive to current fiow in the said secondconductor for opening the said first conductor.

7. Ina typewriting machine, a plurality of separate writing devices,individual magnets for' operating said devices, right and left hand keysets'for controlling the circuits of said magnets, both sets beingnormally operative, a common conductor which is included in the circuitof any magnet actuated through the medium of the right hand key set, asimilar conductor associated with the left hand key set, a relayconnected in series with said first conductor for opening the Melissatached thereto mechanically, of an auxiliary mechanism for operatingsaid ty e- Writlng machine, said auxiliary mach nismcomprising a set ofkeys less in number than said type bars, means for suitably supportingsaid last set of keys adjacent the said manually operable key set,whereby keys in either set may be depressed at the option of theoperator, and means for separately operating said type bars bydepressing keys of the auxiliary set singly and in combination.

19. The combination, with a typewriting machine comprising type bars anda plurality of manually operable actuating keys, there being one suchkey individual to each bar, of an auxiliary mechanism foroperating saidtypewritin machine at the option of the operator, sai mechanismcompnsing a container serving as a base for the said typewritingmachine, auxiliary keys in the forward end of said container positionedin front of said manually operable keys, magnets in the rear of saidcontainer for operating said type bars, and circuit arrangements wherebysaid magnets may be separately energized b singly an in combination. I

20. The combination, with a typewriting depressing said auxiliary keyssets, and individual operating magnets for said typebars separatelcontrollable from either of said auxiliary ey sets.

21.- The combination, with a typewriting machine having a bank ofmanually operable keys, there being an individual key for each letter,and each key being supported on a pivoted bar, of an auxiliary devicecomprising a set of magnets having armatures connected to said bars, asecond set 6 I keys less in number than said first set, and meansintervenin between thesaid second. set of keys and t c said magnetswhereby the-latter may be operated separately by depressing the keys ofsaidsecond set singlyand in combination. Signed at Geneva, county ofKane, and

State of lllinois, this 31st day of August, I

race a. BURDICK.

